What might the school of 2030 be like? An exercise in social science fiction

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the deliberately speculative question of ‘What might the school of 2030 be like?’, with a specific focus on the influences of digital technologies. The article adopts the methodological approach of ‘social science fiction’ to explore the ways in which digital technologies might be used in one Australian high school in 2030 (Lakeside), and what this might mean for the people whose lives are enmeshed with these technologies. Through the co-construction of five social science fiction ‘vignettes’ about life within Lakeside, the article considers the increasing prevalence of dataveillance, digital deskilling and the de-territorialization of schooling. The article then goes on to consider changing relationships between time/place, material and coded structures, as well as the increasingly platformized and data-driven nature of schooling in the 2020s. The article ends by considering the ways in which critical scholars can continue to use the methodological approach of social science fiction writing with regard to unpacking the politics of digital education futures.     

The Learner's Prior Knowledge: a Critical Review of Techniques for Probing its Organization

Science education is presented as the negotiation of knowledge between several different perspectives: those provided by ‘scientists’ science’, ‘ curricular science’, ‘teachers’ science’, ‘children's science’ and ‘students’ science’. A case study based on concepts of force and movement is used to illuminate these perspectives, and implications for the curricular presentation and classroom teaching of the ideas are discussed.     

What we know now: education,neuroscience and transdisciplinary autism research

Background: Knowledge about the brain has been growing rapidly since the 1990s as a result of developments in neuroscientific research linked to improvements in functional neuroimaging and other brain imaging technologies. As the brain is the ‘principal organ involved in learning’ (1), it would seem reasonable to assume that education should be one of the chief beneficiaries of this research, leading to advances in our understanding of how people learn, the development of new curricula and innovative teaching and learning approaches. However, the linkage between neuroscience and education has, historically, always been weak, and, we suggest, continues to be so, notwithstanding important research initiatives since the year 2000.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to critically explore current theoretical understanding of joint neuroscientific and educational research, herein referred to as ‘neuroeducational’ research. There is a particular focus on a critique of the transdisciplinary model as applied in a study of imitation in learners with autism.

Main argument and sources of evidence: The review of the literature in the first half of the paper identifies the key barriers to neuroeducational research, including neuromyths, lack of shared understanding, the problem of the translation of neuroscientific findings to schools and clashing research assumptions, methodologies and traditions. However, a model of transdisciplinarity is presented as a possible way forward. This model is tested in the second half of the paper against the experiences of the authors in conducting transdisciplinary research in autism and imitation in the secondary classroom. Here, we develop the concepts of ‘transfer affordances’, ‘transfer challenges’ and ‘transfer opportunities’ to structure our analysis of the various dimensions of the transdisciplinary research process. These new concepts are defined, and their relevance and utility explained.

Conclusions: The main conclusion of the paper is that the transdisciplinary research process within neuroeducation is complex, far from fully understood and requires further mapping. It is proposed that the concepts of ‘transfer affordances’, ‘transfer challenges’ and ‘transfer opportunities’ are useful theoretical ideas in pursuit of this aim.     

Seekers after truth? Images of postgraduate research and researchers in the twenty-first century

Western cultural practices contribute to our understanding of the purpose of higher education and how we are to conduct ourselves in educational contexts. In this article, entitled ‘Seekers after truth?’, I analyse recent works of popular fiction which draw on and contribute to the idea that postgraduate research is a process of locating and amassing clues leading to the revelation or discovery of a truth. These novels re-inscribe the metaphor of the postgraduate researcher as detective or ‘seeker after truth’. This article considers the contradictory and productive meanings that arise from the trope of the researcher-detective. In addition, I argue that, although there are challenges in bringing the work of one field to bear on another, analyses of discourses which are not produced within higher educational contexts can nonetheless promote reflection on educational concepts. In this case, fiction enables us to consider ideas about what it is to do postgraduate research and to be a postgraduate researcher.     

Connected Thinking

Tony Webster, former Director of Education in Tameside, describes the origins of the ‘connected thinking project’. He goes on to list a number of key questions that were identified in relation to ‘values education’, ‘thinking skills’, ‘emotional intelligence’ and ‘ICT’. The aims, form and contributions to a seminar which sought to identify areas for continuing work and further research are described. Several of those who contributed to the seminar have written papers for this special issue of the journal. Tony Webster concludes his paper by listing the research and other action deemed necessary to take the work forward.     

Children’s lived experiences of ‘ability’ in the Key Stage One classroom: life on the ‘tricky table’

ABSTRACT

Within the wealth of research on ‘ability’ in education, there is a missing perspective: the perspective of the child. Whilst ‘ability’ informed practices such as ‘ability’ grouping are commonplace in the UK, how these are experienced by the young child has previously received only limited attention in research. Using case study evidence, this article demonstrates that children’s lived experiences of ‘ability’ are highly individual and shaped by a broader range of social, structural and pedagogic aspects of classroom life than previously thought. Implications are that a wide range of teaching choices can potentially affect a child’s experience of ‘ability’ and that the impact of these are particularly profound for some children, shaping their perceptions of themselves and others. Children’s perspectives therefore offer a challenge to the hegemonic discourse of ‘ability’ in education and the classroom practices upon which it is based.     

Supporting teachers' professional development in a developing country through practice-based inquiry and distance learning: some key issues

Abstract

This article highlights seven issues the authors encountered when they took on a very difficult task, namely of seeking, through ‘low tech’ print-based distance learning materials, to promote the professional development of experienced but untrained teachers in Namibia. The authors attempt to do this through the advocacy of an action research approach. There has been no tradition of action research in Namibia, indeed those within the country who promote this approach (the Minister of Higher Education) prefer the term Practice-based Inquiry. Moreover, the support systems that can normally be called into service in a developed country to support teachers in a distance learning initiative of this nature are virtually absent ‘on the ground’ in Namibia. The central question is can untrained teachers, themselves with a rudimentary formal education, be encouraged through a distance learning mode, to develop professionally by critically reflecting system strongly advocates ‘social reconstruction’?     

Evidence-based policy-making and exam board insider researchers: creating communicative spaces

ABSTRACT

This article conceptualises the relationship between exam board insider research and the policy-making context in which they operate. Exam board researchers are constrained by commercial and political interests in disclosing their knowledge. and face pressures in disseminating research, butalso find themselves working in contexts where calls to ‘evidence-based policy-making’ are ubiquitous. This can deprofessionalise and disenfranchise the researcher.. This article will depict the context faced by exam board researchers attempting to influence policy before portraying possible responses, evaluating how these can be applied to exam board research, with reference to research on standard-setting. The article will build on a conceptualisation of successful exam board insider research as the creation of Habermasian ‘communicative spaces’, applying lessons from research–policy interface literature to that conceptualisation. Inapplying those lessons, the article will suggest possible solutions to the problems faced by that group in their attempts to influence policymakers.     

Choosing a faith school in Leicester: admissions criteria,diversity and choice

ABSTRACT

Religion in Britain is in overall decline and ‘no religion’ is growing, but one-third of schools in the State sector in England and Wales are ‘schools with a religious designation’ (‘faith schools’). Historically, these were Protestant and Catholic Church schools, but new faith schools have been established by Churches and other faiths. Governments of all parties have encouraged this development, chiefly on the grounds of increased parental choice and improved quality.

The research presented here provides evidence about the operation of faith schools in the English city of Leicester in 2016, particularly from the perspective of those choosing a school. The main objectives are (1) to indicate the diversity of faith schools, (2) to show how they present themselves to those looking for a school: their admission requirements and level of educational attainment and (3) to reflect on the claim that faith schooling offers more and better choice and quality. Leicester is selected for its size and diversity; it is small enough to study with the resources available to us and is one of the most multi-ethnic and multifaith urban areas in England. Research was carried out between February and July 2016 and offers a snapshot from that year.     

The Drama Teacher's Journey

Abstract

This article focuses on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and English as a Second Language (ESL) texts, that is texts produced in interactions between native and non‐native speakers of English. Such texts are hybrid in that they comprise a blending of ‘standard’ and ‘non‐standard'1 English forms. In these times of globalised English and the increasing prevalence of non‐native speaker models of English, research is increasingly likely to encounter ESL texts. The issue for the critical analysis of such ‘new’ texts is that CDA generally utilises ‘standard’ linguistic models for its analytical apparatus. Fairclough (2003), arguably the most widely‐recognised proponent of CDA, bases his analytical framework on Standard English. The question is whether and if so how CDA can accommodate hybrid texts, specifically those with a blend of linguistically ‘standard’ and ‘non‐standard’ forms of English. In this discussion, I consider the application of Fairclough's model of CDA to the analysis of an interview with a Thai ESL student beginning postgraduate studies in Australia. I argue that the analysis is made more effective by drawing on principles from Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, in particular communication strategies.     

Storylines in the physics teaching content of an upper secondary school classroom

ABSTRACT

Background: Physics is often seen as a discipline with difficult content, and one that is difficult to identify with. Socialisation processes at the upper secondary school level are of particular interest as these may be linked to the subsequent low and uneven participation in university physics. Focusing on how norms are construed in physics classrooms in upper secondary school is therefore relevant.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify discursive patterns in teacher–student interactions in physics classrooms.

Design and methods: Three different physics lessons with one class of students taught by three different teachers in upper secondary school were video-recorded. Positioning theory was used to analyse classroom interaction with a specific focus on how physics was positioned.

Results: We identified seven different storylines. Four of them (‘reaching a solution to textbook problems’, ‘discussing physics concepts in order to gain better understanding’, ‘doing empirical enquiry’ and ‘preparing for the upcoming exam’) represent what teaching physics in an upper secondary school classroom can be. The last three storylines (‘mastering physics’, ‘appreciating physics’ and ‘having a feeling for physics’) all concern how students are supposed to relate to physics and, thus, become ‘insiders’ in the discipline.

Conclusions: The identification and analysis of storylines raises awareness of the choices teachers make in physics education and their potential consequences for students. For example, in the storyline of mastering physics a good physics student is associated with ‘smartness’, which might make the classroom a less secure place in general. Variation and diversity in the storylines construed in teaching can potentially contribute to a more inclusive physics education.     

Do defence styles and approaches to learning ‘fit together’ in students’ profiles? Differences between years of study

Abstract

The study aims at investigating students’ learning/defence profiles. It also explores students’ profiles during different years of study. Participants comprised of 425 undergraduates. They completed the ‘Approaches to Study and Skills Inventory’ and the ‘Defense Style Questionnaire’. The students’ academic achievement was measured through grade point average. Cluster analysis revealed three profiles: ‘restricted maturity and dissonant-unorganized’ students, ‘defensive and reproduction oriented’ students, and ‘mature and learning advanced’ students. The profiles correspond to adaptive and maladaptive learning patterns. The study also revealed few (a) differences across the years of study (on strategic approach) and (b) interactions between the three clusters and the years of study (on mature defence style and GPA). The findings are discussed in relation to recent literature. Limitations and future research suggestions are presented.     

Reviewers

Abstract

The growth in importance of performance assessment in education over recent years has been linked with a concern to ensure that the service represents ‘value for money’. To date the absence of a satisfactory analytical framework has meant that questions of ‘effectiveness’ and ‘efficiency’ have been kept separate. An additional problem has been that, whilst there are many different outcomes which are appropriate for education authorities to pursue, conventional models handle these only one at a time.

In this paper we use data on the 96 English LEAs to show how an underlying model allows authorities to be compared in terms of ‘efficiency’ when facing different environmental circumstances and utilising different resource inputs. The technique of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is first described in the context of an explanatory model, and then the results of applying this to the English LEAs are presented.

As distinct from a league table’ analysis, DEA gives some indications of where improvements are to be sought. It allows for ‘trade‐offs’ between outputs of different types and provides a small but distinct peer group of ‘efficient’ authorities to which an ‘inefficient’ LEA can be compared.

The efficiency measure used is ‘relative efficiency’ which arises from comparing the actual performance of an inefficient authority with that of others which can be used to model its environmental circumstances and resource inputs.

A number of case studies are described. The limitations of the technique, and the caution required in interpretation, are discussed.     

Students and society in the 2020s. Three future ‘histories’ of education and technology

ABSTRACT

As social science fiction, this paper imagines three possible futures for education and technology. Among the most important technologies emerging today are data-aggregating technologies such as AI, affective computing, adaptive or predictive software, clouds and platforms. The paper is not, however, directed at specific technologies, but at indeterminate sociotechnical configurations. Set in 2040, it offers three ‘histories’ of the 2020s. Might students become (i) ‘smooth users’, improving themselves in the pursuit of frictionless efficiency within a post-democratic frame created by large corporations, (ii) ‘digital nomads’, seeking freedom, individualism and aesthetic joy as solopreneurs exploiting state regulations and algorithmic rules while stepping out of the state and deeply into the capitalist new economy, or (iii) participatory, democratic, ecological humans embedded in ‘collective agency’ that see institutions as spaces for exploring more equitable ways of living? The paper reflects on the future research and the political, educational and technological decisions which would make each of these three fictional future histories more or less likely.     

Understanding and enhancing pupils’ learning progress in schools in deprived communities

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on data from the ‘Raising Pupil Attainment in Key Stage 1 in Stoke-on-Trent’ research project. The particular focus is on how teachers, head teachers and teaching assistants (n?=?59) articulate pupils’ learning success in five highly achieving schools in deprived communities. Six key themes are highlighted which are identified by participants as influencing successful pupil learning and progress. These are analysed in relation to Biesta's theory on the parameters of ‘Good Education’ [Biesta, G. J. J. 2010. Good Education in an Age of Measurement. Boulder, CO: Paradigm] and within Bourdieu's understanding of ‘distinction’ [Bourdieu, P. 1998. Practical Reason: On the Theory of Action. Oxford: Polity Press]. The research reveals that issues related to socialisation and subjectivity are presented as critical and foundational for the more formal measures of success in pupil learning.     

Solving the equity–equality conceptual dilemma: a new model for analysis of the educational process

Background Over the past four decades there have been a number of controversies arising from the discussion of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’. These concepts are often invoked by policy analysts, policy-makers, government officials and scholars in order to justify or critique resource allocation to different levels of the educational system.

Purpose By creating a new equality–equity goal-oriented model, which allows the combination of different dimensions for each concept with different stages of the educational process, this paper aims to achieve two purposes: (1) to clarify among researchers, educators, evaluators, policy analysts, and policy-makers the notions of ‘equality’ and ‘equity’; and (2) to encourage researchers and evaluators to critically examine and synthesize equality/equity-based research.

Sources of evidence A review of the literature concerning the meaning, goals and assumptions of the concepts ‘equity’ and ‘equality’, and their implications for social and public policy, is presented.

Main argument A survey of recent and earlier debates on ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ among scholars and researchers reveals disagreement and confusion about what those concepts really mean and what they involve in terms of goals and results. It is debatable whether we can have ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ in a society that prioritizes efficiency in resource management over social justice. Certainly, such questions have shaped and guided many discussions and theoretical debates among scholars, policy analysts and policy-makers.

Conclusions Most of the definitions of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ are frequently used by many researchers, evaluators, policy-makers, policy analysts, scholars and educators as if they were interchangeable. Instead of arguing for a unique or simple conception of ‘equity’ and ‘equality’, a set of definitions of those concepts as well as a discussion related to theoretical and policy issues associated are presented. In order to avoid that confusion, the equality–equity model developed in this paper suggests several new directions for analysis and research. It provides some ideas about how ‘equity’ (i.e. ‘equity for equal needs’, ‘equity for equal potential’ and ‘equity for equal achievement’) and ‘equality’ (i.e. ‘equality of opportunity’, ‘equality for all’ and ‘equality on average across social groups’) could be treated and measured in future research in relation to different features of the educational process (availability of resources, access, survival, output and outcome).     

The practice of Action Research on health in Latin America: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

Action research is an important methodology that promotes participatory processes in the community, enhancing community networks and empowering people to define their own health and generate actions. Here, we performed a systematic review using the Scopus, Web of Science (WoS) and SciELO databases to identify the studies carried out on health in Latin America under the category ‘Action Research’. The search terms used were ‘Action Research’, ‘Health’ and ‘Latin America’. We identified the following three areas of particular relevance: (a) action research is a necessary strategy to make health actions more efficient by adapting institutional actions to specific realities; (b) action research can increase the visibility of excluded groups and demonstrates the importance of being heard; and (c) action research can promote community empowerment by considering community members as knowledge agents who can transform their own reality. We report that action research processes which highlight the emancipatory and democratizing potential of community participation are subject to controversy regarding the production of and access to knowledge and the issues related to health. However, action research is not usually used in the development and implementation of institutional health interventions.     

Global-local divides and ontological politics: feminist STS perspectives on mobile learning for community health workers in Kenya

ABSTRACT

This theoretical paper argues that Feminist Science and Technology Studies (FSTS) can help advance the emancipatory project in critical Ed Tech research. To support this claim, we deploy Tsing’s concept of ‘scale-making projects’ (2005. Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press) to connect ‘global’ narratives to ‘local’ users in a mobile learning project for Kenyan health workers. Drawing from this exemplar case, we discuss more broadly how FSTS provides useful theory and methods for tracing the trans-national power relations of digital technologies ‘on the ground’. The paper concludes by advocating for new forms of emancipatory Ed Tech research – ones framed not only within oppositional pairings such as ‘global’ versus ‘local’, but which elucidate how binaries themselves are constituted through far-flung trans-national arrays of sociomaterial practice.     

Purpose,Value and Competence: Contextualising competence based assessment in the civil aviation sector

Abstract

This paper outlines some of the issues emerging from research in to competence based training and assessment, and National Vocational Qualifications. A model for analysing the key purposes of formal assessment systems is suggested and a conceptual framework is presented which uses the notions of use and exchange value for gauging the worth of qualifications. The author presents material collected during a study of the training and assessment of student air traffic controllers to illustrate how contextual features, particularly at the occupational level, can affect the purpose and design of a qualification as well as the value attached to it by recipients and employers. It is suggested that elements such as: ‘purpose’, ‘perceived value’ ‘qualification design’ and ‘context’ provide a conceptual framework within which further understanding of the role of qualifications can be achieved. The longer term aspiration of the analysis begun in this paper is the development of a context‐sensitive theory of occupational qualifications.     

Pairing Fiction and Nonfiction Texts to Promote Literacy and Language Development of Adolescent English Learners

Abstract

Based on the relevant research that highlights the impact of pairing fiction and nonfiction texts around a specific theme or a topic for enhanced motivation and reading comprehension for English learners (ELs), this article describes ways to combine texts of various genres to promote ELs’ language and literacy development. A middle school example of a lesson on chocolate exemplifies how pairing a number of fiction and nonfiction texts supports differentiation and multiple opportunities for writing.